Embarking on and embracing this next chapter of my life where I start the great adventure of becoming a grandmother.

Friday, July 8, 2016

It's My Birthday and My Heart is Heavy

Last night I went to bed with a heavy heart...eleven Police Officers in Dallas had been shot and the number of them dying kept climbing. I watched the videos of the brave officers rushing towards the shooter's location trying to protect the BLM protesters, news crews and innocent bystanders and trying to protect one another and take out the threat. I saw them shielding people with their own bodies and trying to get them to safety. As others ran away from the threat, these officers put themselves in harms way. Five officers have now died and I pray that the other injured officers make a full recovery, as well as the civilian who was shot. We have sadly become a society where people make a snap judgement without knowing all the facts. We no longer take the route of the justice process but revert to vigilantism and target and kill innocents who had nothing to do with the perceived injustice. Our leaders in this country are some of the worst offenders of not waiting for the facts to come out and instead whipping up anger and ruining even more lives. They too need to be held accountable for their actions and for contributing to the violence that is plaguing our country and stop using tragedies like this to push their own agendas. It irks me to no end when our president makes a speech condemning the targeted attacks but also says we need to wait for more information. Why did he not "wait for more information" before condemning other police officers who were involved in tragic shootings and instead choose to pass judgement upon them and say the shootings were racially motivated before he had all the facts and thus stirring up more anti police sentiments which directly led to this tragedy in Dallas? Yes, there are bad cops out there and yes, they need to be held accountable and charged with murder, but the majority of police officers are good people trying to do their jobs and protect all of us as were the officers in Dallas who were protecting those very people who were protesting against their brothers and sisters in law enforcement. The officers who were killed and wounded died because of misplaced anger being fueled in part by ignorant and irresponsible rhetoric coming from the top on down. Why you might ask do I take this so personally? I have 2 sons that are good and honest police officers who care about their communities and the people in them. They put themselves in harms way to protect and help people, including people who have helped contribute to the racial division and anger in our country instead of trying to help heal it. As a mother, I know that at any time my sons may become an innocent target, like those brave officers in Dallas were, just because of the badge and uniform they wear. I also know that they may be killed responding to a traffic stop, domestic violence situation, or any other scenario. They know this too and yet they continue to do their job with compassion, integrity and continue to try to make a difference in this world and save lives. My heart aches for the families of the officers who were killed and injured and for their fellow officers and friends. Their lives are shattered and will never be the same. Children will grow up without one of their parents, spouses no longer have their loving partner in life, mother and fathers will have to bury their children and brothers and sister live with the grief of knowing their sibling was murdered. The other officers who were there have to go on and do their jobs while mourning the loss of their brothers and sisters in blue all the while knowing that they too may become the next victim or this senseless vigilantism. One of my son's police departments was already a target of a deranged shooter and a brave officer was lost. So yes, I know that the fear all too well. So here is my birthday wish. On a personal level, please thank a police officer for the dangerous job they do. On a greater level, hold our politicians who contribute to this toxic situation by speaking before they have all the facts, accountable for their actions. We need to work together to hold the few bad apples in the law enforcement community accountable and we need to support the ones who are just doing their jobs and find themselves in a life or death situation and have to make that horrible choice to take out the threat before they or someone else is killed. And finally, we need to work together to help heal our country and stop letting people with their own evil agendas divide us further.Thank you and be blessed.

15 comments:

Oh Debbie this whole situation is so messed up that it hard for me to even express what I feel. Like you, I know many good, honest police officers that honestly just want to serve and protect. My heart just aches. All I could think this morning is that two wrongs don't make a right. The state of our nation is scary, I hope your get your birthday wish.

As the wife of a recently retired first responder I thank you for your very timely and poignant commentary. My heart aches for these families and my prayers go out to them. Sending you prayers and best wishes on your birthday. Dorothy

First - Happy birthday.Second - PLEASE thank your sons from me and my family for what they do.

You are so right and your words were beautiful and truthful. I believe (in my own warped mind) that all this stuff happening, has the governments blessings and I think they could be behind it all. They want us scared, unarmed, and weak - so they can have total control over our lives.

God bless these police officers and their families. God made a special place for them in heaven.Thank you Debbie.

Happy Birthday Sweet Debbie. I too feel so burdened. But man I can't imagine what it feels like to have wonderful sons in this line of work or those with daughters in this line of work. Wow. They sacrifice so much.

Thank you Chrissy. I talked to all of my sons today, including the 2 police officers. One of them lives in an area where there is so much anger towards the police and he knows that he could be a target. He went out and bought himself a pistol today, which he is already legally certified to carry, to have on him to both protect himself and others around him, even when he is off duty. My other police officer son already does this. As a mom, I fully support their decision to do this but at the same time am deeply saddened that they have been put in a position where they need to do this. It hurts to see my sons knowing that they are targets because of hate. I try not to let my fear for them overwhelm me but I will fully admit that it has within the last 24 hours.

Bless your heart Debbie, an incredibly powerful post and I pray that you did have a blessed birthday in spite of the awful situation that is taking place in our country. Give your sons a hug from our family, and know that our prayers are with them! I don't blame your son for beginning to carry a weapon off duty. We must all be vigilant and careful in these days where someone can go off the deep end and do some terrible thing.

Thank you for your kind words, I really do appreciate them. :) And yes, we must all be vigilant. Today, up in Spokane, they are having a BLM rally. We had thought of going up for the day but cancelled our plans when we heard about that. I am fearful of a few bad apples going off and causing huge problems up there and I don't want to be anywhere near any potential danger.